Spring is just around the corner & that means a truckload full of seasonal spring vegetables are coming to grocery store near you! What can you expect in the spring? Apricots, asparagus, artichokes, endive, honeydew, lychee, mango, & so much more! I’m really excited for the new season–not only will there be less snow walls to climb, but more delicious recipes to be made! But, let’s not get carried away because it’s still winter in Boston, so let’s embrace a winter salad. Why would you eat a salad during the winter? Well, I guess you’d have to be craving it, eating healthy, have a really heated house, or because your salad is no ordinary salad, it’s a couscous salad. Yeah, it’s cold still, but it’s not just a bowl of leafy greens (that’s not a bad thing either).

About 3 years ago, my cousin Peter introduced me to this amazing cajun/creole restaurant that’s hidden inside a Vegas hotel frequented by locals & seniors called the Oyster Bar in Palace Station. When I adventured back to Vegas for the 4th of July weekend, I was determined to get everyone to try it. The bar behind the restaurant serves $3 Bloody Mary’s & $0.99 margaritas as Jimmy, Josh, Kelcie, & I learned as we waited 2 hours in line for the most delicious red bowl of seafood goodness that awaited us. It was my third time at the Oyster Bar & everyone else’s first, so I was there on a mission: to figure out all the ingredients they use to make this bowl of perfection.

In the 2+ decades of my existence, I cannot recall a time when I actually celebrated St. Patrick’s Day. In fact, most of the time I completely forgot it was that time of the year again to wear green to avoid this absurd tradition of getting pinched. While the bars around my campus were stocking up on green beer, I was studying for finals. This year is no exception, however this time, I’m bringing you recipes to celebrate St. Patty’s day even though I’ll still be at home, studying. Today, I present two recipes using bright green colors perfect for any lunch or dinner party you might host for St. Patty’s day or any other celebration. They’re simple, refreshing, & you can make them both in 20 minutes or less. More green recipes will be on the way, but they’ll probably be delayed until after my exam on the 22nd.

Last year in August, I lightly reviewed some brand new items from Trader Joe’s new line of Asian products: Sriracha & Dried Kimchi. Today, I’m finally getting around to reviewing their instant ramen & seaweed salad. Recently, Trader Joe’s has pulled the seaweed salad off their shelves because they were produced in a facility that also produces peanuts & unknowingly sold them without stating that they were peanut-free. I’m not sure when they’ll be back, but I definitely hope they shelve them again because–spoiler alert–they’re actually pretty good.

Most people procrastinate by surfing Reddit when they really need to do something, but don’t want to. Others play video games or stalk their friends on Facebook, but I procrastinate in a “productive”–sadly not an academically productive–way by feeding myself. Hi, I’m Tiffany & I’m addicted to “stress cooking”. While I should be studying for the dreaded MCAT (Medical College Admission Test), I often find myself in the kitchen, facing the pantry looking it up & down as if I were checking out Ryan Gosling. I tell myself I’m just looking for a snack, but I’m really just wasting time because I don’t want to feel defeated trying to figure out translational motion as its relevance to medicine is as relevant as twerking is to ballroom dancing.